MARIKO

AGLAE

AGLAE

AMAZONE

ASTERION

CONTREBASSE

CYBELE

FLORA

GAIA

MATADOR

THALIE

VIOLONCELLISTE

LES MUSICIENS

LES MUSICIENS

LES NAIADES

LES NAIADES

GEISHA

LA RONDE DES MATADORS

LA MENINE

No one can escape from their origins and personal experiences"My encounter with clay began as a child, in Madagascar, where I was fascinated by the work of the Malagasy, who sculpted legendary characters from the clay with their hands. Until my teenage years, my life was a travel journal, a succession of arrivals and departures: Mauritius, the Reunion, Kenya, the Ivory Coast, etc.It was in Kenya that I learnt the basics of shaping clay from the Maasai, who modelled strange and fabulous beings. As early as the age of 14, my mind was made up: I would be an artist. In the Ivory Coast, the head of the Abidjan School of Fine Arts took me under her wing and, given that I was still too young to join the school, gave me private lessons.Later and further on, here I am: a pupil at the Montpellier School of Fine Arts where, re-christened by a Japanese friend, Kenji, I have become the sculptor Mariko.

I work with bronze and stone but am particularly partial to sandstone, a frost-resistant material that requires firing at 1340°, as well as recycled materials, such as miscellaneous motor parts, which I assemble with an arc welder and then include in my sculptures.

The true source of art lies in our heartsEach of my creations is a love story that I live alone throughout the entire creative process, before giving them back their freedom when they are finished. I then give most of my sculptures a black finish, which is not only a tribute to this majestic wood, ebony: black also plays a key role in revealing light in matter. And it is the movement of my characters that makes me calm. And so ends my artistic journey, on which I set out with the aim of sharing and offering up a dream, a myth and a story to those who come and see my sculptures. And to speak to their hearts, the only true source of art." Mariko